The whole Bahai movement is in fact, whatever it may have been in the mind of
its originator the flab, a counterfeit of the Messiahship of Christ. At least
this is the side of it that is turned towards both Christians and Jews. All
that relates to the second coming of Christ in the Old Testament or the New is
bodily appropriated by Baha to himself and everything in them relating to God
is boldly applied to himself. . . . It will bring a few of the Persians nearer
to Christ. By far the greater number of its adherents will be brought into more
active antagonism to Christianity than before. -- G. W. Holmes, M. D., in
Speer's "Missions and Modern History," Vol. I, p. 169.

Can Bahaism make good its claim to be the fulfillment of and substitute for
Christianity? It has no place for Christ except as one of a series, one,
moreover, whose brief day of authority closed when Mohammed began to preach in
Mecca. . . . If the claim be admitted that Bahaism is a republication of
Christianity, the whole interpretation of the death of Christ contained in the
Epistles must first be rejected. -- W. A. Shedd, in "Miss. Rev, of World,"
1911.

[page 83]

IVBAHAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

ABDUL BAHA says: "Some say Abdul Baha is Antichrist. They are not informed of
Bahai principles. Baha Ullah [1] established Christ in the East. He has
praised Christ, honoured Christ, exalted Him, called Him the Word of God, the
Spirit of God, and spread His mention." [2] These words could be written
with the name Mohammed substituted for Baha Ullah. But in the case of both of
them it is the kiss of betrayal. Judas also made known Jesus. Both Mohammed and
Baha write "ex" before His title "King of Kings." To accept Baha and Abdul Baha
is to deny and forsake Christ.

I hear some Christian say: "Of course. What you say is self-evident. Bahaism
is a new religion whose aim is to supplant Christianity." This is true. Yet
the claim is put forth by Bahais, and, more strangely, it is accepted by
some. Christians, that the two religions are not antagonistic, and may be held
at one time by the same person. To an

1. In an interview with Rev. J. T. Bixhy, who wrote on Bahaism in the
North American Review, June, 1912, Abdul Baha says: "Baha
Uhah has upraised the standard of Christ in the East in countries and among
peoples where there was formerly no mention of Christ's name." Not true. Christ
was known in Moslem lands, in India and Burmah.2. SW., Sept. 8, 1913, p. 576.

[page 84]

esteemed Christian lady I expressed my regret that a certain doctor, forsaking
Christ, had gone as a Bahai missionary to Persia. The reply startled me:
"Doctor -------- is very much a Christian." Yet why was I startled? It was
simply hearing an idea with which I was familiar in the writings of the Bahais.
Sydney Sprague says: "The true Bahai is also the truest Christian." [1]
Charles M. Remey says: "To be a real Christian in spirit is to be a Bahai, and
to be a real Bahai is to be a Christian," for "Bahai teaching is only the
perfection of Christianity." [2] A report of an interview of Rev. R. J.
Campbell, of City Temple, London, with Abdul Baha, states the claim of Bahaism
as follows: "It does not seek to proselyte [sic]. One can be a Bahai without
ceasing to be a Christian, a Jew, or a Mohammedan." [3] In accordance
with this idea, Thornton Chase and some Bahais in America continued to worship
and teach in Christian churches, and to have their dead buried by pastors. Some
in London, in connection with the City Temple and St. John's Church (Canon
Wilberforce's), profess both Christianity and Bahaism. Of Southern India, Dr.
A. L. Wylie said: "It is said that there are thirty-five Bahais in our city
(Ratnagiri). Some of these are Christian converts. They continue to be
Christians, saying that they can remain such and are instructed to do so." Such
an erroneous idea,

when not due to the misrepresentations of the leaders and Oriental
tagiya (" dissimulation"), must arise from ignorance of or dislike to
true Christianity or ignorance of what Bahaism is.

I. Bahaism assigns Christianity a place as but one among the true religions.
Bahaism indorses and accepts in the same category with Judaism and
Christianity, as true and divinely revealed religions, Zoroastrianism,
Confucianism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Babism, and Bahaism. Abdul
Baha says: "The reality of the religions is one, the difference is one of
imitation." [1] Remey says: "Bahais consider all religions to be, from a
spiritual standpoint, one religion."[2] "Every religion has had its
birth in the advent of its divine founder." [3] "The founders of the
world religions have been seers as well as channels of truth to the people."
[4] It tries to build on all the other religions by professing to be the
fulfillment of each one. "The Bahai propaganda in India," says Sprague, "has
not the difficulty that besets a Christian missionary, that of pulling down:
his duty is only to build on what is already there. He sees the Hindu,
Buddhist, and Mohammedan with the same eye, acknowledges their truth and shows
that a further revelation has come through Baha Ullah."[5] It says to
each one, Baha fulfills your traditions and prophecies. [6]1. "Wisdom Talks," p. 21.2. Remey, "The Bahai Movement," p. 54.3 Ibid., p. 39. 4. Ibid., p. 2.5. "The Story of the Bahai Movement," p. 17.6. So of Persia, S.W., April 28, 1914, p. 42.[page 86]

But this liberality is only apparent. Only original Buddhism, Christianity,
etc., was God-given and true. Now all are corrupted. "The key-note of Bahai
teaching is identical with the Christian, but in Christianity it was so
forgotten that it came almost as a fresh, new illumination from Baha."
[1]

Christianity refuses to be classed with the ethnic religions. In its nature it
is exclusive. It admits that there is a measure of truth in all religions, but
Christ's gospel is the truth "once for all" delivered to men.

II. Bahaism claims to abrogate and supersede Christianity. Bahaism in its
origin is a Mohammedan sect. It declares that Islam is from God. Christianity
was a divine revelation, but Islam was a better one. In the "Ikan," Baha
maintains the validity of Islam, testifies to its truth, defends Mohammed's
prophetic mission as the fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies, and the
Koran as the Book of God. [2] Abdul Baha exalts Mohammed, and declares
that he "gave more spiritual education than any of the others," [3]
i.e., than Moses or Jesus. He justifies Mohammed's life and conduct, and
defends his laws and doctrines." [4] He declares that "whatever European
and American historians have written regarding His Highness Mohammed, the
Messenger of God, is mostly falsehood. . . .The narrators are either ignorant
or antagonlstic." [5]

Chrlstlans have therefore been in the wrong for thirteen centuries. They have
sinned against God, and were a stiff-necked and perverse people in rejecting
Mohammed, as the Jews were in rejecting Jesus the Christ. "If those who have
accepted a revelation refuse to believe a subsequent revelation, their faith
becomes null and void."

Similarly Babism abrogated Islam. At the Badasht (Shahrud) Conference (1848)
the law of the Koran was formally declared to be annulled. Baha abrogated
Babism in the Rizwan at Bagdad in 1864. Bahaism is the New Covenant, "which
confirms and completes all religious teaching which has gone before."
[1]

Christianity is, according to this, a system of the distant past. It was
effective in its day, for "the Christian teaching was illumined by the Sun of
Truth: the Christian civilization was the best," [2] concedes Abdul
Baha. But now, says Remey, "Bahaism is not one of many phases of Universal
Truth, but the Truth, the only Living Truth to-day, the only source of Divine
Knowledge to mankind.. . . Abdul Baha's word is the Truth. There are those who
will say, 'Have we not Jesus? We want no other.' The Revelation of Jesus is no
longer the Point of Guidance to the world. We are in total blindness if we
refuse this new Revelation which is the end of the Revelations of the past. . .
.All the teachings of the past are past. . .

Only that which is revealed by the Supreme Pen, Baha Ullah, and that which
issues from the Centre of the Covenant, Abdul Baha, is spiritual food."
[1] Bahaism in proclaiming thus the abrogation of Christianity is
emphatically antichristian.

III. Bahaism casts Christ from His throne as the unique manifestation of God.
Bahaism recognizes two classes of prophets: (1) The independent prophets, who
were lawgivers and founders of new cycles. Of this class were Abraham, Moses,
Christ, Mohammed, the Bab, and Baha. (2) The others are dependent prophets, who
are as "branches." Such were Isaiah and Daniel. All the greater prophets, of
the first class, were Manifestations of God. [2] So Bahaism continues to
honour Christ as the Incarnate Word, the Spirit of God, God manifest in the
flesh. At the same time it exalts Baha to supreme and unique dignity and glory
above Christ and all prophets. In order to understand this essential,
fundamental doctrine of Bahaism, we must know its doctrine concerning God and
His Manifestation.

The teaching of Bahaism regarding God is hard to grasp, because it oscillates
between Theism and Pantheism. Myron Phelps exposition of it is certainly
pantheistic. [3]Baha Ullah in many places bears out his interpretation,
as, for example, "God alone is

1. Remey, S.W., Dec. 3!, 1913, pp. 267--271.2. In thus regarding the prophets as divine, Bahais are not setters forth of
strange doctrine in Persia, for the All Allahis (Nusaireyeh), who number,
possibly, twice as many as the Bahais in Persia, have the same doctrine, and,
in addition, regard the Imam Ali and others as divine incarnations. 3. Phelps, "Life of Abbas Effendi."

[page 89]

the one Power which animates and dominates all things, which are but
manifestations of its energy." [1] In subsequent expositions, as in
"Answered Questions," Abdul Baha repudiates Pantheism, and so does M. Abul Fazl
in "The Brilliant Proof." Kheiralla, while maintaining that Baha taught Theism,
accused Abdul Baha of Pantheism. In "The Epistle to the Shah" Baha simulates a
monotheism almost as rigid as Islam: "We bear witness that there is no God but
Him. He is independent of the worlds. No one hath known Him. . . . God singly
and alone abideth in His own place which is holy, above space or time, mention
and utterance, sign, description, definition, height and depth. . . . The way
is closed and seeking is forbidden." A favourite text is that of the Koran, in
which God says: "I was a hid treasure, I desired to be known, therefore I
created the world." In this process "the first thing which emanated from God
(eternally) was that universal reality which the ancient philosophers termed
the 'First Mind, and which the people of Baha call the 'Primal Will. This is
without beginning or end, essentially but not temporally contingent, and
without power to become an associate with God." [2] The Primal Will,
Holy Essence, Word, Spirit, is manifested in perfect men, who are the Great
Prophets. They are supreme, holy, sinless souls, godlike in their

attributes. They show the perfections of God. [1] This reality does not
change, but the garment in which it is clothed is different. One day it is the
garment of Abraham, who is Zoroaster, then Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Christ,
Mohammed, the Bab, and Baha Ullah. [2] Abul Fazl says: "All the prophets
are respectively the Manifestations of the single Reality and one Essence."
[3] The "Ikan" says: "All are one, as the sun of yesterday and to-day
are one. The sun is one, the dawning-points of the sun are numerous. One light,
many lanterns." [4] "Baha is the same light in a new lamp."
[5]Yet there are differences in degree. Of the Bab, Baha says: "His rank
is greater than all the prophets, and His Mission loftier and higher."
[6] But he is merely as a forerunner in comparison with Baha. Baha is
superior to all, greater, more glorious. [7] He is infallible, absolute,
universal. "All the prophets were perfect mirrors of God, but in Baha, in
some sense,

1. Abdul Baha in Mrs. Grundy's "Ten Days in Acca."
2. Ibid., p. 61: "The Blessed Perfection said in His Tablets that once He was
Abraham, once Moses, once Jesus, once Mohammed and once the Bab. Baha Ullah is
all the prophets, no matter by what name he chooses to call himself."
3. "Bahai Proofs," p. 209.
4. Pages 14--15.
5. "Answered Questions," pp. 199--205. Mr. Sprague says: "The Bahai Faith
teaches that the Universal Spirit, which is God, has manifested itself to every
race at some time or other, and that it comes again and again, like the spring,
to make all things new" ("A Year in India," p. viii).
6. "Ikan," p. 175.
7. "Bahai Proofs," pp. 156-160. At the time of Azal there was a whole "galaxy"
of Manifestations. Baha wishes to stop the claimants, so he declres that none
is to be expected "for a thousand or thousands of years." Persia has had
numerous incarnations, so-called. They were found among the Ismielis,
Assassins, Ali-Allahis and all the Ghulat. The veiled Prophet Mukanna, Babak
and many pretenders have proclaimed themselves God. In truth Persia never lacks
for an incarnation or two. One of these, of the Ali-Allahi sect, arrived in
Tahriz some years ago, and made an appointment to visit me at three o'clock
P.M. My somavar was set to boiling and I awaited his arrival. But he failed to
keep his engagement because the Governor-General, the Amir-i-Nizam heard of his
presence in the city, and this God fled, forgetting to send me word not to
expect him.

[page 91]

the Divine Essence is manifested." "All preceding ones are inferior to
him: all subsequent ones are to be under his shadow." [2] But even the
latter are not to come for a "thousand or thousands of years," and perhaps not
then, for the "Kitab-ul-Akdas" says:

"0 Pen, write and inform mankind that the Manifestations are ended by this
luminous and effulgent Theophany."

The Manifestation has two stations: "One is the station of oneness and the rank
of absolute Deity, the second station is one of temporal conditions and
servitude. If the manifestation says, 'Verily I am only a man like you, or
'Verily, I am God, each is true and without doubt." The "Tajallayat" quotes the
Bab as saying concerning "Him whom God shall manifest" "Verily he shall utter,
'I am God. There is no God - but Me, the Lord of all things, and all besides is
created by Me ! 0 ye, my creatures, ye are to worship Me." [3] In Bahai
literature such words as the following are not uncommon: "Baha Ullah is the
Lord of Hosts, the Heavenly Father, the

Prince of Peace, the Glory of God." [1] "He is the framer of the whole
Universe, the Cause of the life of the world, and of the unity and harmony of
the creatures." [2] "No one of the Manifestations had such great power
of influence as was with El-Baha." [3] In passing, it may be noticed how
little ground for such boasting they have. How great in comparison was the
influence of Moses as leader of Israel, emancipator, lawgiver, and prophet! How
great even was Mohammed's success and influence, compared with what Baha has
accomplished! How evidently antichristian is Bahaism in denying that Christ's
name and glory are above all, and that to Him every knee should bow!

IV. Bahaism wrongly assumes that its Leader is Christ come again. There is
confusion about this claim, for some Bahais represent Baha to be Christ, and
others make Abdul Baha Abbas to be Christ come the second time. Confusion also
arises from the fact that Baha is set forth as the Manifestation of all the
"promised ones." He is set forth as the Messiah for the Jews, God the Father,
the Word, and the Spirit for the Christians, Aurora or Shah Bahram for the
Zoroastrians, the fifth Buddha for Buddhists, reincarnated Krishna for
Brahmans, the Mahdi or the twelfth Imam or Husain for the Moslems. [4]
"All are realized in the coming of Baha

1. Asad Ullah, "The School of the Prophets," p. 509.2. Mrs. Brittiugham, "The Revelation of Baha Ullah," p. 32.3. S. W, Jan. 19 1914, p. 283.4. "The Revelation of Baha Ullah," p. 24. Similarly Gulam Ahmad Quadiani of
India claimed to be Christ come again as well as Mohammed and the Mahdi and
also, for the Hindus, a new avatar or incarnation.[page 93]

Ullah." [1] In accord with this, Baha declared in his "Epistle to the
Pope": "Consider those who turned away from the Spirit [Christ] when He came to
them, Verily He hath come from heaven as He came the first time. Beware lest ye
oppose Him as the Pharisees opposed Him. Verily the Spirit of Truth has come to
guide you into all truth. He hath come from the Heaven of Preëxistence."
"Baha," says the editor of the Star of the West, "is the fulfillment of the
promise of the 'second coming with a new name (Rev. iii. 11-13).
[2]

It must be remembered that Bahaism, chameleon-like, takes on a different
aspect according to the environment of its adherents. In Persia its creed is
different from that of America in regard to the "return." For the most part
American Bahais regard Baha as God the Father, and Abdul Baha Abbas as the Son
of God, Jesus Christ. After the quarrel and schism following the death of Baha
(1892), Abbas became very wary of assuming titles and dignities, lest he give a
handle to his opponents to accuse him of claiming to be a "Manifestation." So
he assumed the title Abd-ul-Baha, the "servant of Baha," which his followers
translate "Servant of God." He also calls himself the "Centre of the Covenant."
Baha had entitled him the "Greatest Branch of God" (Zech. Vi. 12) and the
"Mystery of God" (i Tim. iii 16). He was commonly called

"Agha," an equivalent in Persia of Effendi or Mister, but his followers
translate it "Master," and put into it the full New Testament significance.
Undoubtedly Western Bahais worship Abdul Baha as Jesus Christ the Master come
again. In spite of all disavowals and beclouding by words their faith is plain.
Getsinger, a leader and missionary, says: "Abbas is heir and Master of the
Kingdom: he was on earth 1,900 years ago as the Nazarene." Mrs. Corinne True
says: "If this is not the resurrection of the pure Spirit of the Nazarene of
1,900 years ago, then we need not look elsewhere." [1] Mr. Anton Hadad
says: "The Master, Abbas Effendi, the Lord of the Kingdom, is the one who was
to renew and drink the cup with his disciples in the Kingdom of the Father, the
one who taught the world to pray, 'Thy kingdom come, " i.e., Jesus Christ. [n2]
Chase says: "He has come again in the Kingdom of his Father." [3] Mrs.
Brittingham, on pilgrimage to Acca, writes: "I have seen the King in his
beauty, the Master is here and we need not look for another. This is the return
of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, of the Lamb that once was slain ;--the Glory
of God and the Glory of the Lamb." [4]

Emphasizing the side of his divinity, we have such declarations as these: M.
Haydar Ali taught Mrs. Goodall, "God is not realized except through His
Manifestations. Now you have recognized Him and

have come to see Him," [1] i. e., Abdul Baha (1908). M. Asad Ullah gave
instructions (1914): "This world has an owner, and Abdul Baha owns the world
and all that is in it." [2] "He is the Son of God" [3] -- the
only Door, "the Lord of Mankind." [4] A supplication from Persia, given
out for publication, says: "O! Abdul Baha! Forgiver of sins, merciful,
bountiful, compassionate! How can a sinner like me reach Thee? Thou art through
all the Forgiver of Sins." [5]

But there is an interpretation to all this for "those of understanding."
Bahais reject metempsychosis, but they have a doctrine of "Return," which must
be borne in mind. This principle is expressed by Phelps as follows: "When a
character with which we are familiar as possessed by some individual of the
past, reappears in another individual of the present, we say that the former
has returned." [6] Baha states it thus: "In every succeeding
Manifestation those souls who exceed all in faith, assurance, and self-denial
can be declared to be the return of the former persons who attained to these
states in the preceding Manifestation. For that which appeared from the former
servants became manifest in the subsequent ones." [7]Their classic
illustration of this

is John the Baptist. Abdul Baha says: "Christ said that John the Baptist was
Elijah. The same perfections which were in Elijah existed in John, and were
exactly realized in him. Not the essence but the qualities are regarded. As the
flower of last year has returned, so this person, John, was a manifestation of
the bounty, perfections, the character, the qualities, and the virtues of
Elias. John said, 'I am not Elias '--not his substance and individuality."
[1] Remey clearly states the idea: "The return of a prophet does not
refer to the return to this world of a personality. It refers to the return in
another personality of the impersonal Spirit, the Word or Spirit of God, which
spoke through the prophets in the past. . . . People are mistakenly looking for
the personal individual return of their own special prophet." [2] In
accordance with this theory of the "Return," Abdul Baha wrote to the Bahai
Council of New York: "I am not Christ; I am not eternal." [3] To Mrs.
Grundy he said: "Some call me Christ; it is imagination." Yet the final word of
his missionary, Mr. Remey, is: "The same Christ which was in Jesus is again
manifest in the Bahai Revelation. The real Christians are those who recognize
the New Covenant to be the return of the same Christ, -- the Word of God."
[5] In like manner this usurper of Christ's name is proclaimed to be

"the expected one," the "desire of all nations" under other names to the
various religions.

V. Bahaism deals with the prophecies of the Bible in a manner derogatory to the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Bahaism asserts that "the
promises and prophecies given in the Holy Scriptures have been fulfilled by the
appearance of the Prince of the Universe, the great Baba Ullah and of Abdul
Baha." [1] A volume would be necessary to review their treatment of the
prophecies. They quote a multitude of verses without proof that their
applications are valid. The "messenger" and "Elijah" of the Book of Malachi are
declared to be the Bab. [2] He is also the Angel with the sound of the
trumpet (Rev. iv. I) and his cycle is the "First Resurrection." Baha is
declared to be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies. Of chapter ix. 1--6,
"unto us a child is born, . . . the Prince of Peace," Dealy says: "Many
misguided people have referred this to Jesus Christ." [3] In verse I,
"Galilee of the nations," land of Zebulun and Naphtali, is made to mean Acca
(Acre in Syria) where Baha lived in exile, and not the region of Christ's
ministry, contradicting Matthew iv. 13--16. By a great stretch of imagination
Acca" becomes Jerusalem

1. M. Asad Ullah in M. H. Dreyfus's "Universal Religion," p. 63.2. Mal. iii. I; iv. 5--6. See Dealy, "The Dawn of Knowledge," pp. 13-15.
3. Ibid., pp. 25. 30.4 Dealy says: "To quote all the passages of Scripture referring to Acca
would necessitate reading a great portion of the Bible. They identify Accho
with Acca (Acre). Even if this were so, Accho was not in the land of Naphtali
and Zebulun, but in Asher. Napoleon's siege of Acre is called 'the abomination
of desolation, standing in the holy place" (p. 40).

[page 98]

"the city of the great king" (Ps. xlviii. 12), and Mount Carmel becomes Mount
Zion, and Isaiah ii. 3 refers to them, "for out of Zion shall go forth the law
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Even "the root out of Jesse"
[1] and the millennial peace are only partially referred to Christ. They
find the real fulfillment in Baha Ullah, whom they imagine to be descended from
Abraham, through an imaginary descendant of his named Jesse. [2] The new
covenant and the law written on the heart is again the Bahai dispensation,
contrary to Hebrews viii. 8, 10, 16. When Baha as a prisoner in chains rode
into Acca seated on an ass, he fulfilled Zechariah ix. 9. [3]

I attended a Bahai meeting in the Masonic Temple in Chicago. The leader read
the following verses as all fulfilled in Bahaism. [4] The "son of man"
(Dan. vii.) was Abdul Baha, and the "Ancient of Days," Baha. The question of
Proverbs xxx. 3, "What is his name and what his son's name?" was answered, Baha
and Abdul Baha; similarly in Psalms lxxii. and ii., "The King" and the "King's
Son." The "Branch" (Zech. vi. 12--13) who shall build the temple was again
Abdul Baha, and the latter is specially urgent that the Bahai Temple in Chicago
should be built in his day, so that the prophecy may appear to be fulfilled.
The dates in Daniel are juggled with. For example, Abdul Baha explains Daniel
viii. by taking the solar year. He calculates [5]

that the 2,300 days were completed at the Bab's manifestation in 1844. In
Daniel xii. 6 the lunar[1] year is resorted to, and the
forty-two months (1,260 years) are dated from the hegira of Mohammed, but
Daniel xii. II does not come exactly right, so the terminus a quo is made to be
the proclamation of the prophethood of Mohammed, three years after his mission,
which was ten years before the hegira. By this means the date of Baha's
manifestation (1863) is reached. In connection with Daniel xii. and Revelation
xj. we have the startling information, so contradictory to history, that "in
the beginning of the seventh century after Christ, when Jerusalem was
conquered, the Holy of Holies was outwardly preserved, that is to say, the
house which Solomon built. The Holy of Holies was preserved, guarded, and
respected." [2] On this alleged fact Abdul Baha founds an argument.
[3] Prophecies referring to the glory of God or of the Father are
applied to Baha, because his title means "glory of God." The Bab, according to
the custom in Persia, gave many high-sounding titles. Baha's rival was called
"The Dawn of the Eternal." Voliva, the successor of Dowie, might assume some
fitting title and claim to fulfill the prophecies. He has a good foundation for
interpretation, he does really live in Zion City (Illinois).

Our Bahais further tell us that the "New Jerusalem," the new heaven and the new
earth, mean the new dispensation, the new laws of Baha. This is now "the day of
God," "the day of judgment," "the kingdom of God," "the second resurrection."
[1] The parable of the vineyard is a favourite proof text. It says the
Lord of the vineyard will come himself and will utterly destroy the
wicked husbandmen. This, they say, is a real coming of the Father, even as the
Son came. In that case the destroying must be real, and we should expect that
Baha would have destroyed the religious leaders of Mecca or Kerbela, Jerusalem
or Rome. "No," says the Bahai, "the destroying is figurative, and means simply
the abrogation of their authority." Well, if he escapes to a figurative
interpretation, we too can interpret the coming of the Lord of the Vineyard as
his visitation on Jerusalem in the time of Titus.

Baha Ullah's method of interpretation and adaptation of prophecies is best
seen in his "Ikan." In it he interprets at length Matthew xxiv. [2]In
brief it is as follows: "After the tribulation of those days" means times of
difficulty in understanding God's word and attaining divine knowledge; "the sun
shall be darkened and the-moon cease to give light," that is the teachings and
the ordinances of the preceding dispensation shall lose their influence and
efficiency. "The stars shall fall," etc., means the divines shall fall from the
knowledge of religion, and

1. "Bahai Proofs," p. 140. "All in their graves arose spiritually at his
call, for service in his cause." 2. Pages 17--67.[page 101]

the powers of science and religion shall be shaken. Because of the absence of
the Son of Divine Beauty, the moon of knowledge, and the stars of intuitive
wisdom, "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn." "They shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven," that is Baha Ullah shall appear from the
heaven of the Supreme Will, outwardly from his mother's womb. "In the clouds"
means in doubts which are caused by the human limitations of the Manifestation,
eating, drinking, marrying, etc. "And he shall send his angels," the spiritual
believers sent as preachers of Baha. The separation of the sheep from the
goats, as we learn subsequently, means the schism at the death of Baha, when
the violators, the brothers of Abdul Baha and their adherents, were exscinded.
[1] Even granting an allegorical interpretation of Christ's words, only
a stretch of imagination can find any reference to Baha.

It should be borne in mind that Oriental Bahai writers have read Keith on
Prophecy in Persian and the publications of the Mission Press at Beirut. Abdul
Baha said to Dr. H. H. Jessup, "I am familiar with the books of your press."
[2] M. Abul Fazl

1. Doctor Potter of Teheran says (" Missions and Modern Hist.," by R. E.
Speer. p. 562): "Their fanciful interpretations of plain Scripture declarations
renders it difficult to make any impression on them with proof texts from the
Bible. They reply, 'Yes, but we must break open the word and extract its
meaning. " This, says Doctor Holmes, "is often directly at variance with its
apparent meaning, hut this only displays more clearly the divine insight of
their teacher, that he is able to recognize words no one else can
understand."2 The Outlook (New York), 1901, June, p. 451.

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refers to and quotes them. Writers in English (as Kheiralla, Remey, Dealy, and
Brittingham) refer to Miller, Cummings, Seiss, Guinness, and others. Yet with
all their familiarity with apocalyptic literature, they make an exceedingly
weak presentation. Their claims are so baseless as to require no refutation.
They are a mass of unfounded assertions and assumptions, -- vain, bold, and
brazen. We may admit the declarations of Baha and Abul FazI, which are but
trite principles of hermeneutics, that figurative and allegorical language
abounds in the Scriptures, that many meanings are "sealed" till after their
fulfillment, that the prophecies of the Old Testament were only partially
fulfilled at Christ's first coming. But their inference does not follow. There
is nothing to prove the assertions that the prophecies were fulfilled in the
Bab and Baha. They furnish no scintilla of evidence. For example, "the
government shall be upon his shoulders." Was this fulfilled in Baha? He came
and went; the nations and their rulers from 1817 to 1892 were neither literally
nor figuratively under his sway. He did not nor does he rule over the nations.
He did not reign in Mount Zion nor in Jerusalem. Jerusalem did not cease to be
trodden down of the Gentiles. Abundance of peace did not attend him, but great
wars. The signs of Christ's Second Advent have not been fulfilled in Baha,
either actually or metaphorically. [1] As well may Ahmad Quadiani or
Dowie assert their

1. In one particular, no doubt, Baha has fulfilled prophecy. At least the
Azalis say that he came "as a thief" and stole the succession from Azal.

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pretensions. Baha's claim is antichristian. The day of Christ's power through
the Holy Spirit has not passed. It is still His day. The knowledge of Christ is
yet more covering the earth. Men of diverse races and religions in Asia,
Africa, and the isles of the seas are being joined in the common faith and
fellowship of Jesus Christ as Saviour of Men. There are more Christians in
Korea than Bahais in Persia. More Jews have become Christian since Baha was
born than have become Bahais from all races and religions outside of Persia.
Christ still goes forth conquering and to conquer.

VI. Bahaism, in its treatment of Jesus Christ as a man in His earthly life,
belittles Him by both its denials and its affirmations. Of His temptation it
says, "the devil signifies the human nature of Christ, through which He was
tempted." His miracles of healing are denied. [1] Baha and Abul Fazl
admit the possibility of miracles, but deny their evidential value, [2]
but Abdul Baha denies their reality. He says: "The miracles of Christ were
spiritual teachings, not literal" deeds. [3] The raising of the dead
means that the dead (in sin) are blessed with spiritual life. [4] By
blindness (John ix.) is meant ignorance and error; by sight, knowledge and
guidance. [5] The spittle coming from Christ was the meaning of His
words, the clay was the expression He used in accordance with their
understanding. [6] At the crucifixion

darkness did not prevail, nor the earthquake, nor was the vail of the temple
rent in twain.[1] The crucifixion was not an atoning sacrifice; Christ
quaffed the cup of martyrdom "to cultivate and educate us."[2] The
washing away of sins by Christ was not by His blood, but was by the practice of
His teachings. [3] Christ did not rise from the dead. "Resurrection of
the body is an unintelligible matter contrary to natural laws."[4] The
body, which signifies His word, arose when faith in His cause revived in the
minds of the disciples after three days. [5] Christ's real resurrection
was the coming of Mohammed. "Christ by saying that He would be three days in
the heart of the earth meant that He would appear in the third cycle. The
Christian was one, the Mohammedan the second, and that of Baha the third." "The
ascension of Christ with an elemental body is contrary to science." He ascended
in the same sense as Baha ascended, viz., departed to the other world. Thus
Bahaism denies the miracles [6] atonement, resurrection, and ascension
of Christ.

the denial and refutation of miracles. A blind man in Teheran sent to Baha
praying that his eyes might be opened. He received answer that it was for the
glory of God that he remain blind. The Bab, at his examination in Tabriz, was
asked to restore the sick Mohammed Shah to health. He replied: "It is not in my
power, but I can write two thousand verses a day. Who else can do that?" He
thus appealed not simply to the quality of his poetry but to its quantity as a
proof of his manifestation. In like manner, Manes, in old times, painted
pictures in his "revelations" and appealed to them as proof of his inspiration.
While denying miracles, Bahais lay much stress, as we have seen, on minute
fulfillments of prophecies.

Bahaism belittles the life and work of Jesus in instituting comparisons
between Christ and Baha derogatory to the former. Baha says: "It is not meet .
. . to repeat the error of seeking help of . . . the Son Jesus. Let thy
satisfaction be in myself." Abdul Baha says: "The difference between Baha and
Christ is that between the sun and moon. The light of the sun [Baha] subsists
in itself while the moon gets light from the Sun." "All the teachings of Christ
will not exceed ten pages. [1] Those of the Blessed Perfection exceed
sixty or seventy volumes. Christ's instructions refer to individuals. Those of
the Blessed perfection are for all nations, although they apply as well to all
individuals. The instructions of Christ were heard by but few persons;

1. "Winterburn's Table Talks," pp. 19--20.

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there were eleven who believed, although Christians say there were one hundred
and twenty. The teachings of the Blessed Perfection were spread throughout the
world during his lifetime. The reputation of Christ did not extend from
Nazareth to Acca [22 miles]; the reputation of the Blessed Perfection extended
throughout the world. Jesus Christ did not send a letter even to a village
chief; the Blessed Perfection sent letters to all the kings of the earth."
[1] Notice how he repeats ad nauseam the title for Baha, but uses no
title for the Lord Jesus Christ, though the Moslems invariably do use a title
in speaking of the latter.

There is an evident effort on the part of Kheiralla and Abul Fazl to minimize
the proofs regarding Christ from prophecy, miracles, and history, with the idea
thereby of magnifying the proof for Baha in contrast. For example, "The Gospels
contain only a few pages of the true Words of God. Christ's teachings were not
written in the original language nor written in His day, His power was slow in
proving effective, and many even denied His existence." [2] "Even Peter
denied Him, but Baha Ullah has educated thousands of souls, faithful under the
menace of the sword." [3] In explaining the progress of Bahaism among
the Jews and Zoroastrians, Abul Fazl says: "Christians could not convert even
one Jew or Zoroastrian except by force or compulsion." He ignores the fact that
millions of Persians had been

converted to Christ from Zoroaster before the sword of Islam smote Persia. This
belittling of Christ-- His life and work and influence--shows that a spirit
antagonistic to Christ really animates the Bahai leaders, in spite of their
professions to the contrary.